Clapacs to retire by month's end

If it weren’t for Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs, the Arboretum would be a parking lot.

That’s what Director of Facilities Michael Crowe said of Clapacs, his boss and friend, who will retire May 28.

“When I was first hired and we were getting ready to demolish the 10th Street football stadium, Terry faced a lot of pressure to turn it into a parking lot,” Crowe said.

But Crowe said he and Clapacs thought in terms of green space, so Clapacs convinced critics the Arboretum would be a better choice.

“Can you imagine that not being there?” Crowe said. “He’s the one who made the decision for it to become the Arboretum.”

Clapacs has been at IU since his freshman year of college in the early 1960s. During his time in Bloomington, he has had a hand in the beautification of the University, the development of buildings across the eight campuses and athletics.

“As a freshman here, I felt the aesthetic beauty of this campus and knew that not all universities were put together like Indiana University was put together,” Clapacs said.

He received his undergraduate degree in 1965. Before he finished his MBA in 1968, he started working full-time as a staff member for the University. After graduation, Clapacs never left.

IU Foundation President Emeritus Curt Simic met Clapacs when they were both students. When Simic was the foundation’s president from 1988 to 2008, the two worked together in securing money to fund beautification projects, such as the Herman B Wells statue and flower beds throughout campus.

Simic said his friend of 40 years sees the University’s need to be functional, but also inspirational, even with a structure like the Atwater Parking Garage.

“When you see the end of that garage, it’s a beautiful-looking building,” Simic said. “You’d never know it’s a parking garage.”

With Clapacs leaving, Crowe said there’s a fear Clapacs’ vision will fade away. But Clapacs said he chose a new master architect, David King, who will “help preserve the things we’ve built upon for the last several decades” and lead the Master Plan, a guideline for construction projects for future decades.

President Michael McRobbie has not announced how he will choose a replacement for
Clapacs, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.

Clapacs also served as athletic director from 2002 to 2004 and continued to do his job as chief administrative officer, which “required a lot of hours and seven days a week to do the job.”

One memory Clapacs said he will never forget was a 9-mile walk he took with former basketball coach Bob Knight down I-70 in Columbia, Mo., back to their hotel after a loss at the University of Missouri. He said it was a cooling-off period for Knight.

“When we would lose a game, he just wanted to be by himself or be with someone and just talk about other things,” Clapacs said. “It’s a night I’ll always remember.”

Clapacs also said he has had a 29-year friendship with Knight, and is disappointed how Knight’s time at IU ended.

“I remember all of it in a positive way, and I will always be sad it turned out the way it did,” Clapacs said.

With Clapacs’ duties over at the end of the month, he said he looks forward to spending more time with his grandchildren, and in the fall he will travel to Croatia, where his grandparents and father lived.

Phyllis Clapacs, his wife of 45 years, said she knows her husband is sad to be leaving IU. She said he worked constantly, but added that “his work is his enjoyment.”

Terry and Phyllis Clapacs also have personal ties to the University. They met at a Little 500 practice when he was a rider for Delta Upsilon, and she came to watch with her sorority.

“This guy came riding up to me and said, ‘Hi, you probably know who I am,’” Phyllis
Clapacs said.

But even though Terry Clapacs’ work duties will be over, he plans to keep an office on campus. For the next couple of years, he will be working on a book about the architectural history of IU.

Terry Clapacs’ office will be next to longtime friend Simic, who said he hopes the campus does not lose the vision Terry Clapacs helped create.

“Terry’s contributions over the last 40 years are incalculable,” Simic said. “His commitment to the vision and traditions of the University are unsurpassed.”